FGCU S&D: Phill Hansel Invitational Day Two Recap

On the second day of the Phill Hansel Invitational, the FGCU swimming & diving team (6-4, 4-0 CCSA) was represented in the finals by seven different individuals. Day two of the competition at Houston's CRCW Natatorium featured the 200 Medley Relay, the 400 IM, the 100 Fly, the 200 Free, the 100 Breast, the 3m dive and the 800 Free Relay events.

"After a bit of a flat morning, we bounced back and had a great evening session," head coach Dave Rollins said. "The athletes continued to race and dive tough. It was great to see so many new season and lifetime bests today, thanks to being able to take advantage of the finals format. Come Februrary, we will need to be better in the mornings, but with our young team we see the talent is there, we will just continue to gain these valuable experiences."

In the first final of the day, the Eagles picked up a third-place finish in the 200 Medley Relay event. The quartet of freshman Lucija Sulenta, junior Petra Halmai, freshman Julia Rodriguez and sophomore Wiktoria Czarnecka posted a time of 1:41.45 en route to earning a podium finish.

Senior Elizabeth Zeiger highlighted the individual finishes in today's competition, as she swam a season-best 4:18.07 in the 400 IM, good for a third-place finish.

In the 100-yard butterfly, FGCU was well-represented in the finals, as senior Cassidy Fry, Czarnecka and senior Madison Jean combined for 42 points. Fry, who was the only one to earn a spot in the A Final, finished sixth, while Czarnecka came in 11th and Jean rounded out the scoring at 23rd.

Junior Petra Halmai was the final Green and Blue swimmer to score for the Eagles after earning a spot in the A Final for the 100 Breast. Halmai, who has already swam numerous nationally-ranked times this season, laid down a season-best and NCAA B Cut time of 1:01.12 in the event en route to earning a sixth-place finish.

On the boards, both freshmen Reese Wakefield and Delaney Nelson collected points for the Eagles for the second-straight day. Yesterday, the duo tallied key points for FGCU in the 1m event and the pair continued the streak in today's 3m event. Wakefield picked up a sixth-place finish with a score of 274.10, while Nelson's 232.80 points were good for 17th.

At the end of the second day of competition, the Eagles currently check in at 8th among the 13-team field. The team sits just one point behind seventh-place Colorado State University with seven scoring events left.

Up Next:
The Phill Hansel Invitational is set to wrap up tomorrow at the CRWC Natatorium. The final day of competition will begin at 10 a.m. with the prelims and end with the 3 p.m. finals. Tomorrow's slate includes the 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 1650 Free, Platform Diving and the 400 Free Relay. It will be the final competition day of 2019 for the Eagles, who will return to action at the FGCU Aquatics Complex on Saturday, Jan. 4. The team is set to host Tulane, Illinois State and conference rival Liberty at the Nest that day for a noon meet.

Team Standings
1. Houston - 1,187 points
2. Rice - 742 points
3. Washington State - 624 points
4. Tulane - 500 points
5. University of Nevada - 471 points
6. UC Davis - 423 points
7. Colorado State - 373 points
8. FGCU - 372 points
9. Air Force - 365 points
10. Northern Colorado - 290 points
11. North Texas - 249 points
T-12. University of Nebraska, Omaha - 2 points
T-12. New Mexico State - 2 points